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California Passes Sweeping Data-Privacy Bill

By passing bill, legislature headed off a more restrictive ballot initiative that recently qualified to appear before voters in November

By

Marc Vartabedian

Updated June 28, 2018 9:36 p.m. ET

California lawmakers gave consumers unprecedented protections for their data and imposed tough restrictions on the tech industry, potentially establishing a privacy template for the rest of the nation.

The law, which was rushed through the legislature this week and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday, broadens the definition of what constitutes personal information and gives California consumers the right to prohibit the sale of personal data to third parties and opt out of sharing it altogether. The bill applies to internet...

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